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Our Work

EU policy is central to progress in combating climate change both in Europe and globally. The climate programme engages in key contemporary issues, notably international negotiations, the role of bioenergy, strategies for transport, funding and the EU Budget, energy conservation and the challenge of adaptation.

Climate change is a complex problem that requires a coordinated policy response. As such, climate change crops up in all work areas at IEEP, from dealing with issues of environmental governance in relation to international negotiations, or in terms of understanding the links to land use. Together we are able to bring a range of disciplinary perspectives to the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

To reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases causing global temperature increase, well-targeted mitigation measures are essential. IEEP has experience in evaluating the effectiveness of such measures, in particular by examining their national implementation in Member States.

The transport and energy sectors are the biggest contributors of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the EU so naturally a lot of our work centres on policies regulating these areas. Regarding transport, we were influential in the development of the recent legislation on limiting the CO2 emissions from cars and we are currently very much involved in the definition of sustainability criteria for biofuels. We have also worked on environmental labelling and consumer information on new cars; the links between climate change, transport and obesity; and the need to reform the existing perverse economic incentives that encourage car use.

The energy sector is key to reducing both CO2 emissions and resource use: bringing down energy consumption through demand management and improved efficiency, well-planned renewable energy technologies, sustainably implemented bioenergy and other emerging mitigation technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS).

In addition to efforts on mitigation, society must learn to cope with the impacts to which we have already committed ourselves as a result of past emissions. IEEP follows the evolution of policy for adaptation to climate change. Our current work in this area is concerned with improving Europe’s capacity to account for the cost of adaptation and related public spending, filling an important gap in the knowledge base for adaptation policy.

Addressing climate change costs money. IEEP is working to understand how climate change priorities can be reflected in EU spending, in particular how the concept of ‘climate proofing’ can be operationalised in the EU budget.

Climate policy and land use is an area where our work is rapidly expanding. IEEP’s capacity to think across sectoral and environmental policy domains enables us to consider conflicting policy objectives, such as those on bioenergy, soil carbon sequestration, urban planning and the EU’s impacts beyond its borders.

IEEP also has educational charity status. We have experience of training and capacity building on a wide range of topics. Notably, we have been very active in supporting the European Parliament in its role in EU climate policy.

Latest in Climate Change & Energy

A new study by IEEP offers a first appraisal of efforts by EU governments to implement the targets set within the crucial Climate Action and Renewable Energy (CARE) package of policy measures. The report ...

The EU's goal is to get at least 20 per cent of its energy supplies from alternative energy sources by the year 2020 and climate change and energy will be high on the agenda for the up-coming Swedish Presidency. ...

The EU’s goal is to get at least 20 per cent of its energy supplies from alternative energy sources by the year 2020 and climate change and energy will be high on the agenda for the upcoming Swedish Presidency. ...

This paper provides an early overview of the prospects for implementation of the EU climate action and renewable energy (CARE) package across the EU at Member State level, as of spring 2009. It is based ...

This report jointly issued by IEEP and RSPB sets out how onshore wind planning in the UK can be improved. This concludes that the rapid roll out of new wind energy capacity, now urgent if the UK is to ...

IEEP and RSPB have launched a new report setting out how onshore wind planning in the UK can be improved. This concludes that the rapid roll out of new wind energy capacity, now urgent if the UK is to ...

This report sets out to provide an integrated picture of land degradation issues and actions within the EU. Findings from literature, academic research and policy analysis are brought together within this ...

The study presents a systematic comparison of design features in central climate policy initiatives at the US federal, regional and state level geared towards the establishment of an emissions trading ...

This paper, commissioned by the European Parliament Committee on Budgets, provides a review of recent EU climate and energy policy developments. It considers the future implications of these developments ...

IEEP has submitted a response to the European Commission's recent consultation on requirements for a potential EU sustainability scheme for biomass used for energy purposes (separate from transport biofuels ...

Today (29 October) David Baldock, Executive Director of IEEP and a member of the High Level Group on CARS 21, will participate in the final conference on the Mid-Term Review of CARS 21 in Brussels. He ...

A recent IEEP research paper examines the integration of environmental concerns into the aviation sector within the context of the peculiar multi-level governance structure that shapes policy in the sector. ...

IEEP and our partner, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have published a report on "Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policies in Europe and the United States". This report includes the ...

The report describes and whenever possible quantifies the likely impacts of the key UK energy technologies, in the light of current capacity and a selection of published future scenarios for the UK energy ...

This is the final report of the T-PAGE dialogue on Climate and Energy. This report includes a selection of research papers produced during the course of the project on U.S. and EU actions on climate change ...

The report addresses the impacts of climate change in Russia and looks at how Russia’s oil and gas contribute to climate change worldwide. It also identifies the main opportunities in Russia to mitigate ...

On 24 and 25 April 2008, representatives of civil society organisations from the EU and US gathered in Washington DC to exchange views and experience on the development, implementation and advancement ...

The workshop explored the role of CDM under the proposed legislative climate package. A panel of prominent experts focussed on the contribution of CDM in meeting the EU targets and the global objective ...